Life-raft



(N0` Model.)

MFE. BEASLBY.

LIFE BAPT.

No. 258,191.. `Patelltesd May 16, 1882.

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N. Prrnns. Pnuwumagmpmn washing u. c.

' 4UNITED STATESA PATENT OFFICE.

MARIA E. BEASLEY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LIFE-RAFT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 'No. 258,191, dated May 16,1882,

Application filed January 17, 1881. (No model.)

To all lwhom it may concern Beit known that I MARIA EBEASLEY, of thecity and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certainnew and useful Improvements in Lifesaving Rafts for Usein Gase of Shipwreck; and I do hereby declare the following to be asufficiently i'ull,elear,and exact description thereof to enable othersskilled in the art to make and use the said invention. y

The object of this invention is to improve the raft described andclaimed in my Letters Patent of the United States numbered 226,264, anddated April 6, 1880, so that it may be more readily used.

rlhe nature of my invention may be hrieliy stated to consist in makingthe ends of' the floats ofthe raft with a bevel upon both sides,attaching the railings by hinges so constructed as to be erectedsecurely upon either surface, and in forming doors and stoppers for thewater and provision compartments that may be opened upon either side, inaddition to which I sometimes make the railing double, so that in theevent of its being overturned inthe water it can be instantly usedwithout any delay in righting or adjusting it.

I will now proceed to particularly describe 'the construction andoperation of my invention, referring in so doing to the drawings annexedand the letters of' reference marked thereon.

Figure l shows theinvention in perspective as when` in use. Fig. 2 showsthe invention as folded for stowing; Fig. 3, a float in section inmiddle transverse.

A are flat rectangular4 metallic ioats, having both sides of the endsbeveled. These are fastened to each other by hinges B. In some or all ofthese floats A are formed cavities or chambers C, provided with stoppersD, holding provisions, accessible upon both sides of the floats. Bars Eare pivoted upon both sides of the floats and engage in hooks F,fastened firmly to the sides of the other floats, and when engaged inthe hooks F the bars E hold the iioats in the same dat plane, and whenturned in parallel position with the floats A the bars E make noimpediment in the folding of the raft, the positions of the pins of thehinges B being in such relation tothe upper surfaces of the floats Athat a space adequate to receive the bars E and hooks Fis provided whenthe oats A are folded. Upon the sides of the outer floats are hinges G,capable of turning in both directions, either upward or downward,attaching a grated railing, H, provided with a strong upper rail, J,with rowlocks K thereon. At the opposite endof each of the railings Hare hinged gates L, made also of gratings, which, fastening to the otherend of the opposite railing or grating H, form a complete rectangularinclosure. The railings and gates may be made double, so that one setmay be turned upward whiletheotherisdownward. (Indicated iu the dottedportion of Fig. l.) The construction may be further modified bysubstituting a rail or cross-bar for the gates, the function of the railbeing the same as that of' the gateviz., to brace the side rails when inuse and prevent persons washing overboard. When folded, the railingsHand gates L lie in parallel position with the iioats A. Seats orthwarts M are placed across the raft, resting, when in use, on themeshes of the gratings H, and when stowed are placed parallel with thefloats A and the gratings H.

A dag-staff, N, is placed in rings O and P in one of the gates L. Theflag-staff N, 'together with oars and a boat-hook, is placed parallelwith the thwarts when the raft is stored.

vThe provision-receptacles being air-tight, provisions can be safelystored therein without deteriorating from drying up or by encroachmentby vermin, and are accessible from either side.

Having described my invention and the mode of making and operating thesame, what I claim therein as new and of my own original and firstinvention is l.. The hollow rectangular metallic floats united byhinges, so as to present parallel fiat surfaces of the oats to eachother when either folded or extended, and with beveled ends adapted toride with either surface upward.

2. In a reversible life -raft composed of hinged sections susceptible offolding and extension into a flat plane, the combination of aguard-railing attached thereto by hinges susceptible of turning withsaid railing through a sufficient arc of a circle to present the .railing above either fiat surface of the raft, substan` tially as and for thepurpose described and shown.

MARIA E. BEASLEY. Witnesses:

J. DANIEL Env, ALEX. H. SIEGEL.

IOO

